If you’ve ever doubted that fun can be a treatment option, check out this article in USA Today about a prom held for a cancer patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
For one cancer patient, it was a prom to remember
Way cool.
Ron
I just watched Tiger Woods’ press conference where he apologized for his irresponsible and selfish behavior. While it came about 2 months too late, in my humble opinion, he addressed the issues directly and took responsibility for his actions.
I think can we learn two things from Tiger’s situation that apply to humor in healthcare (since that’s the focus of this blog and I have to figure out some way to make this relevant). So, here goes.
First, take responsibility. For your work, your life, your emotions, your behavior. You have much more control over you than you give yourself credit for. That means taking responsibility for the bad…and the good.
If you do something wrong, whether intentionally or accidentally, step up to the plate immediately and take responsibility. If you wait too long, it can appear that you’re ignoring the situation, that you hope it will go away, or that you don’t feel it’s your reponsibility. That’s not necessarily what Tiger thought when he waited so long but it can give that appearance.
As for taking responsibility for good things, be the master of your happiness. Work for good. Take responsibility for your attitude and behavior. If you want to have a good day, design your day to be good. Don’t be a victim. And if you want to add more humor into your life, just do it!
Bottom line. Take responsibility. You will be far better off in the long run.
Second, humor isn’t always appropriate. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that if Tiger Woods had opened his press conference with a Tiger Woods joke, I would have been in the floor laughing. But it was probably not the right venue.
I remember when Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman) appeared for the first after his “exposure” incident, he said to the audience, “So, heard any good jokes lately?” It was hilarious. He used humor to make the situation a little more comfortable and to acknowledge the elephant in the room – that there had been a ton of Pee Wee Herman jokes being told.
However, since Tiger is still fully immersed in his troubles, the use of humor would be too soon and seem insensitive.
So, Tiger has taught us to take responsibility and use humor appropriately. I’ll bet he never thought that’s what he was doing.
Ron
I recently read where some health systems will refuse to hire individuals whose blood tests positive for nicotine. In other words, if someone is a smoker and they only smoke at home, not at work, they could be prevented from working in some health systems.
While I understand that organizations want a healthy workplace and healthy employees, and I am in no way promoting the nasty habit of smoking, I think this is insane.
Do we really want to start analyzing an individual’s personal habits as a prerequisite for jobs? Will this lead to testing for presence of Ben & Jerry ice cream in fat people? Will we analyze blood to find out if someone drank a beer after its born-on date? And what about all the caffeine-addicted Starbucks fans? Will they be eliminated from competing because of a buildup of latte in their blood?
Between you and me, I think we’re testing for the wrong things. There are qualities that have a far greater impact on the work environment than smoking and bad health habits.
So, to provide a fair and balanced perspective, I suggest that healthcare recruiters develop blood tests for the following:
I believe that if we begin the screening with these folks, the smoking problem will take care of itself.
Ron
Here’s a column I wrote for the Observer Newspapers in 2006:
After watching the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, I decided to recommend a few new sports which are sure to improve the so-called agony of victory and thrill of defeat (reverse that). I believe these new events will elevate the now mind-numbing Olympics’ programming to a new level for which public transportation will shut down, students will skip class, and employees will take unpaid leave just to watch the coverage. Here is a sampling of the Olympic Games I’d like to see.
Diathlon (formerly the Biathlon). The Biathlon combines skiing and shooting typically pitting the skiers against the clock and the accuracy of their shots. The Diathlon pits skiers against each other. Diathletes, wearing protective vests with targets in the shape of the Olympic rings, score points when they shoot each of the five rings on the skiers from other countries in the least amount of time. Teams would score bonus points for hitting skiers from countries with more Olympic medals. Once a skier’s five rings are hit, he/she is considered “dead” and is penalized by spending two minutes in “Diathlon Hell” watching the compulsory ice dancing. Of course, backup athletes would be needed for this event. Note: The new Winter Triathlon would include the added skill of shooting in-flight ski jumpers.
Ten Pin Curling (formerly Curling). Back in 16th century Scotland, someone was watching a shuffleboard tournament at the local senior pub and thought, I bet if we did this on ice with smooth rocks, it would become an Olympic sport. Go figure. However, as much as I am entranced by the slip sliding of the curling stones, I am much more familiar with the rules of bowling. I suggest raising the popularity of the sport by adding silk shirts, 80’s hair styles and ugly shoes and allow athletes to curl strikes and spares at the local Bowl Olympica lanes. In this event, smoking and beer drinking would be allowed. I smell medal for Bode Miller.
Boarder Derby (formerly Snowboard Cross). The Snowboard Cross was one of the more exciting new sports at the winter Olympics and a number of snowboarders crashed. But what if falling was more common? As a child, I was fascinated by the fast paced, physical and Amazon-like sport of Roller Derby. In Boarder Derby, these two sports combine for a knock-down, all-out, physical race in which snowboarders are allowed to bump, shove and run over each other in a race to the finish line. Points would be awarded for the fastest time, the most knockdowns and the snowboarder with the most injuries. Sweet, dude.
Ice-Hole Figure Skating (formerly Figure Skating). Let’s be honest. We hate to see our favorite American skater fall but we’ve been known to cheer quietly when the husky Russian goes down. One way to make falling more strategic is to randomly place holes around the rink. The holes, covered by a thin layer of ice, would only be visible when directly over each hole. Skaters would be penalized for skating across the holes, as evidenced by their falls, but would receive bonus points for landing a triple toe whatchamacallit directly into a hole. I know one skater who would score big at this sport. I can see the headline now: “Tanya Harding is Queen of the Ice Holes.”
Ron
Fred Morrison, the inventor of the Frisbee died February 9, 2010 at the age of 90. Think of the thousands of hours of fun that Fred created because of his invention. We should all be so lucky to have that kind of influence in the area of fun and humor. Here’s a great article on him: Washington Post.
Ron
OK, so here’s a rundown of my last five days.
SATURDAY: Had a speaking engagement in Denver while back home, we got 32 inches of snow. Wife and son were not happy that the Head of Shoveling was out of town. Flight home was canceled and rebooked for Sunday morning.
SUNDAY: Flew back to an unbelievable snow-piled situation. My neighbor had snow-blowed my driveway and sidewalk. We watched Superbowl and I was unimpressed with the usually hilarious commercials. Except for the one where the little boy slaps his mother’s boyfriend and said, “Don’t touch my mother and don’t touch my Doritos.” Very funny.
MONDAY MORNING: Took the advice of my friend who said I really needed to upgrade to wireless syncing technology and use IMAP protocol for my email.
TUESDAY NIGHT: Finally got all of my computer problems fixed after trying to upgrade a perfectly good system. Spent 24 hours working on this and $200 in technical support. My friend is hovering over the former friend list. Wednesday morning’s flight to Nashville for the National Speakers Association (NSA) board meeting was canceled and rebooked for Thursday morning due to incoming snow storm. Held on the phone for an hour to rebook it for Wednesday afternoon so I could get there Thursday morning for my meeting.
WEDNESDAY: Another 12-18 inches of snow fell on the 32 inches already on the ground. Wind was blowing 30 mph. Discovered the newspaper that I was certain had not been delivered as it shot out of the snow blower in approximately 5,000 pieces. Flight to Nashville was canceled and rebooked for Thursday afternoon – after my board meeting. Was on the phone for 1 hour to attempt rebooking for Thursday morning. That flight was now full. Should have kept it from before. Later that night, flight for Thursday was canceled and rebooked for Friday night – at the end of the first day of the conference. Held on the phone for an hour only to discover there were no earlier flights. Took my refund and canceled my trip.
THURSDAY (Today): Three-foot icicles are falling from the gutter as the sun starts to melt the snow. My prediction is that the snow will all be melted just in time for the Fourth of July parade.
So, while my computer and the snow created a lot of stress this week, here’s where I found humor:
When you’re in the midst of adversity, by golly, there is humor.
Ron
Humor is cynical. If we didn’t question the norm, we’d never see the humor and irony in everyday life. But humor is also positive. Humor is about the possibility of seeing a situation differently. It’s the surprise in the punch line that makes us think, “I never saw that coming.”
Here’s a short video that’s all about positivity. Very inspiring. Check it out.
Ron
I’m declaring February 2nd Ground Hog Colonoscopy Day. If you’re getting a colonoscopy and your gastroenterologist sees a shadow, you’ll have 6 more months of intestinal problems to weather.
Ron